The White Sox announced that catcher Reese McGuire has been designated for assignment. Taking McGuire’s spot on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters is catcher Drew Romo, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Charlotte.
After signing a minor league deal with the Brewers during the offseason, McGuire triggered an opt-out clause in the contract a few days before Opening Day when it became clear that he wasn’t making Milwaukee’s active roster. McGuire then signed a one-year deal worth $1.2MM in guaranteed money to join Chicago’s roster, as the Sox needed some veteran help to complement Edgar Quero while Kyle Teel was on the injured list. (Korey Lee was also designated for assignment and then outrighted off Chicago’s 40-man roster, as the White Sox seemingly preferred McGuire over Lee.)
The results haven’t been pretty for either Quero or McGuire, as the duo have combined for -0.6 bWAR (the lowest bWAR of any team’s catching mix in baseball) in the first month of play. Quero is hitting only .153/.271/.169 over 72 PA, while McGuire has slashed a near-identical .172/.273/.172 over 34 PA. Quero’s struggles are a bigger-picture concern for the White Sox since the young backstop is viewed as a potential building block, yet McGuire is naturally the far more expendable of the two.
If another team claims McGuire off waivers, they’ll absorb the approximately $1MM remaining of McGuire’s 2026 salary. The White Sox may be hoping that the price tag scares off any teams who might be thin enough at catcher to consider a claim, so that McGuire can clear waivers and be outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte.
Since McGuire has been outrighted in the past, however, he has the right to reject any future outright assignments in favor of free agency, so he’ll have some leverage if he does make it through the waiver wire. McGuire also has more than five years of MLB service time, so he would be able to keep his remaining $1MM-ish salary even if he did reject an outright assignment and become a free agent. Any new team who then signed McGuire would only owe him the prorated MLB minimum salary, which would be subtracted from what the White Sox still owe the catcher.
Romo landed with the Sox via a waiver claim off the Mets’ roster in January. This was the third waiver claim in a little over a month for Romo, who went from the Rockies (the team that drafted him 35th overall in 2020) to the Orioles to the Mets and finally to the Southsiders. Chicago then designated Romo for assignment and subsequently outrighted him in February, and Romo didn’t have the ability to elect free agency.
His stint at Triple-A Charlotte has been a smash to date, as Romo has hit .298/.385/.561 with four home runs over his first 68 PA for the Knights. Matching anything close to that production in the big leagues is far-fetched, but it is possible Romo might still hold some late bloomer potential. The catcher is only 24 years old, and his big league resume consists of only 20 plate appearances with Colorado in 2024-25.
Romo will get another chance to show what he can do against MLB pitching, and even an average level of offense would be both an upgrade over McGuire and a chance to take some at-bats away from the struggling Quero. As for Teel, he has already passed the initial 4-to-6 week recovery timeframe for his Grade 2 hamstring strain, yet White Sox GM Chris Getz told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin and other reporters that Teel isn’t quite yet ready to begin a minor league rehab assignment.
Seems Romo was raking in AAA while McGuire was struggling horribly at majors.
Other teams would turn on the Merry-Go-Round when McGuire was behind the dish.
The depth of “young” White Sox catching certainly made non-productive veteran Reese McGuire expendable. Drew Romo is still just 24-years old and came to the White Sox with some top prospect notoriety as the Rockies first round draft pick in 2020. Korey Lee is also at AAA with a similar pedigree as a former Astros first round pick from 2019.
That said, the White Sox are still banking on Edgar Quero to overcome his early season offensive struggles. His hit tool has always been his most impressive trait throughout his young professional career.
The return of Kyle Teel from his right hamstring strain suffered on March 10th during the World Baseball Classic will be the most welcome addition to the White Sox catching group and lineup. It was originally though that Teel might need the minimum amount of recovery time of 4 weeks from his injury but his eagerness to return has delayed that timeline. He’s now closer to the longer 6 week projection and likely to surpass that once he completes his rehab assignments in the minors.
At least McGuire was told to beat it this time
Thats Bad
Signing McGuire never made any sense. If Romo hits, Quero to AAA may be the next move when Teel returns.
I would have just stuck with Korey Lee at that time and not DFA’d him in favor of Reese McGuire. Lee was much more familiar with the majority of the young White Sox pitchers having caught most of them at the MLB and higher minor league levels.
Drew Romo also had much more potential upside than McGuire but was far less familiar with the team’s pitchers. Beginning Romo at AAA was the better option then and his promotion to the White Sox is the right call now.
It will be interesting to see what develops once Kyle Teel returns from his hamstring injury. The White Sox will have the option of choosing between Edgar Quero and Romo as Keel’s backup or keep both on the roster like they did with Lee during the latter part of 2025. The decision will likely be based on Keel’s health and whether Quero can find his “missing” bat.
If anyone needs a hand me down backstop
More like hand himself
If Teel is still having medical problems, and Quero is having a tough time hitting, Korey Lee is the logical choice to call back to the majors.
Normally yes, but Lee is struggling big time at AAA also.
Swapping garbage for garbage and hoping for lightening in a bottle
What has happened to Q? I am a big backer of his from the minors to last year in the Majors!! Is being #1 catcher to much pressure. His defense has come back to him but the offense is not even close. If he starts hitting- the lineup becomes real tough.